


A Penny Saved

by Wilusa



Series: Suitable for Framing [3]
Category: Carnivale
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-08
Updated: 2011-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-14 13:49:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/149845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wilusa/pseuds/Wilusa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A final sequel to "Courting Trouble" and "A Murder of Crowes," in which we're reminded that there's more than one kind of "power."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Carnivale and its canon characters are the property of HBO and the show's producers; no copyright infringement is intended.

_Standing just outside the door of Nathan Stern's office suite, Tommy Dolan spoke rapid-fire into the microphone held by another KZAK reporter. He knew he didn't have much time._

 _"The horror of this crime scene is beyond description, beyond belief. Sarah Feldman's neck is twisted and bent at a grotesque, physically impossible angle. However it was done, the pain must have been excruciating._

 _"My friend Nathan Stern is out of his mind with grief. They'd just become engaged!_

 _"Miss Feldman is obviously dead. But Nate's clinging to her, telling her over and over that whoever hurt her is gone - she's going to be all right - medics are coming to help her - he'll be with her going to the hospital, and he'll never let anyone hurt her again, never let her **out of his sight** again._

 _"I tried, gently, to tell him she's dead. He looked at me as if he'd never seen me before. When he finally registered what I was saying, he insisted he can hear her heart beating._

 _"The only heart he hears is his own. And he hears it **breaking**."_

 _"Damn it, I'll 'break' your noggin!" The first cop to arrive on the scene yanked Dolan away from the mike, and smacked him upside the head._

 _"I did my civic duty, called the police first," Dolan declared righteously. "And I've kept people out of the office, so they wouldn't mess up fingerprints or other evidence. Is it my fault Kay-Zack moves faster than you do?"_

 _"Thank God for small favors," said a second cop. "If this guy worked for a newspaper instead of a radio station, they would've had **photographers** here ahead of us."_

 _Dolan wasn't surprised when, five minutes later, they cuffed him. In his line of work, it was par for the course._

 _But he let out a howl of genuine outrage when they also cuffed Nathan Stern_.

x

x

x

After hours of separate questioning, the men were placed in side-by-side holding cells, separated only by bars.

If a crisis moved Dolan to think and act like a reporter (who sometimes embellished his reports for dramatic effect), it moved Nathan Stern to think and act like a lawyer. He immediately pantomimed to Dolan _Be careful what you say. The walls may have ears_.

What he saw in Dolan's reaction was not merely acknowledgment, but relief. _Relief_ , he realized, _that I'm not catatonic_.

The walls did have ears...which availed them nothing.

But as the hours and days wore on, _detained for questioning_ became _booked and charged_ , and bail was denied, Nate almost wished he could escape into catatonia. Or worse.

At least they hadn't been remanded to the County Jail. That was being delayed pending his appeal of the denial of bail. But he wasn't hopeful.

 _This is all Tommy's fault. I never would've gotten Sally - or myself - involved in this if he'd told me upfront we were dealing with a **demon**._

 _But...would he have been more likely to tell me if I'd told **him** I'd heard a claim that Justin Crowe had beheaded one man, and disemboweled another, with a scythe?_

 _I might not even have believed the "demon" story. But I did have reason to suspect Crowe was a vicious killer - at an early enough date that I could've walked away, without prejudicing Tommy's case. It would've looked as if I'd been scared off by the backlash, not that I'd necessarily concluded he was guilty._

No, it wasn't all Tommy's fault.

 _Face it. At least part of the reason I wanted to take the case was that I sensed Crowe's preaching was sugar-coated poison - and if Crowe was the "bad guy," that made Tommy a good guy._

 _If only I'd refused to have that talk with him without Sally, hadn't left her alone out there..._

 _It's done. Over. Try to think about what comes next._

 _Can I possibly represent both of us in a murder trial?_ Dolan had categorically refused to retain another attorney.

 _What if I'm asked, on the stand, whether, to my knowledge, Tommy committed perjury in his first trial? Claiming attorney-client privilege would be as good as admitting it!_

 _Can **I** commit perjury, for his sake?_

 _If I do such a thing, even if we're acquitted, my life will be over. I'll never allow myself to practice law again_.

Strangely, that troubled him more than did the prospect of being hanged.

x

x

x

A thousand miles away, another man was, if possible, more miserable than Nate.

"It's all my fault," Ben Hawkins lamented to Ruthie. "An innocent woman's dead, an' two men are probably gonna join her, because I tried to get revenge on Crowe by tellin' Stern the Crowes were Russians posin' as U.S. citizens. Stern never woulda found that out any other way."

Ruthie shook her head. "You're bein' too hard on yourself. I know it had to be Crowe killed Sarah Feldman. But from what's been in the news, the jury believed Dolan's testimony, an' woulda found him not guilty _without_ all that other stuff comin' out. So Crowe woulda struck back at Dolan's defense team anyway."

Ben wasn't buying it. "No, Ruthie. There's a big difference. If it was just a case o' the jury believin' Dolan over Crowe about the fire, Crowe's followers woulda gone on believin' he'd been in the right, thought he got a bum deal. Maybe even thought the outcome o' the trial was fixed. That woulda made them madder than they already were at the government, people in power. His movement wouldn't o' suffered at all.

"But the stuff that came out about him an' his sister bein' Russians, usin' dead kids' names - _I_ hadn't known that! - an' votin' in our elections when they weren't really citizens...all that could be _proved_ , an' it cost him most o' his supporters. Like I, damn it, knew it would. _That_ was what damaged him enough to make him strike back.

"I did warn Stern he was dangerous. But I shoulda made the warning stronger, told Stern more. Or better yet, never called him in the first place."

He wanted to pace the floor of Ruthie's trailer in frustration. But he couldn't. He couldn't walk at all, because the pull on his muscles would start his abdominal wound bleeding again. His left arm was almost useless too, slight though that wound had initially seemed. And he was living with constant pain.

 _As far as havin' use o' my limbs, I'm in as bad shape as Lucius Belyakov ever was._

 _An' I'm twenty years old_.

Since he couldn't pace, he took a few gulps of whiskey, and resumed his rant about the Feldman murder and the wrongful arrests.

"Maybe the worst of it is, I know now that Tommy Dolan didn't set that fire. He was an innocent man, an' his lawyer was representin' an innocent man, from the start!"

He'd lost Ruthie. "Didn't you know that all along?"

"No. I didn't know whether Dolan was innocent or guilty, an' I _didn't care_. All I cared about was usin' that big trial, with the publicity it'd get, to discredit Crowe. But the case Stern made convinced me Dolan was innocent, like it did most everyone else.

"An' now him an' Stern are _both_ likely to hang, because o' me!"

Ruthie tried to protest, but he was just getting warmed up.

"I'm an Avatar, damn it! Even if I do seem like a pathetic cripple. I have _powers_. I should be just as powerful as Crowe, even if we're a little different." Ruthie knew all about that by now. "But I can't think of a thing I can _do_ about this! I can't even avenge these poor people by killin' Crowe. If I was physically able to do it - which I ain't - there wouldn't be no point to it, 'cause whoever brought him back to life the last time would just do it again."

He'd concluded that the only possible explanation of Crowe's return to life was that he had a Dark Avatar son who'd revived him. A son who could be anywhere, using any name.

Ben was furious at God's having given him no warning that enemy existed.

And now he was struck by a grim parallel. "I did to Nathan Stern what God did to me! Put him in danger, without tellin' him everything he needed to know.

"Does that mean the Maker o' the Universe is just as dumb an' thoughtless as a twenty-year-old carny?"

Over Ruthie's objections, he picked up the whiskey bottle and drained it to the dregs.

x

x

x

Tommy Dolan was experiencing much less angst than Nate or Ben.

Tommy Dolan had _faith_.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lieutenant? There's a guy here who says he has relevant information about Nathan Stern."

Grizzled Lieutenant of Detectives Hiram Baker looked up with a frown. "Not another crazy theory about how the girl was killed?"

"No, sir. We've started weeding them out, like you told us. This guy says he has real information about Stern."

"Fine, send him in."

Much as he hated to admit it, Baker feared they'd never be able to establish how Sarah Feldman's neck had been broken. It would have required superhuman strength; and even assuming that strength, none of the marks on her neck were consistent with external trauma. No depressions left by human fingers, or by any type of garrote; no indication that a heavy object had struck or crushed her neck.

Privately, he also feared they'd never learn _who_ had killed her. It was the higher-ups who'd insisted on arresting Nathan Stern and Tommy Dolan. The D.A. had it in for Stern, the best and most successful defense attorney in all California. And Baker had to admit that in years gone by, KZAK's Tommy Dolan had sometimes been a royal pain. The station itself was a royal pain!

But Baker had paid close attention to the just-completed trial. The case presented by Stern - based on logic, and the testimony of dozens of witnesses, who couldn't _all_ have lied - had convinced him Dolan was innocent before Dolan himself took the stand. Therefore, as he saw it, Dolan's testimony must have been truthful. An innocent man has no need to lie.

If there was no perjury, the higher-ups were wrong in arguing that Stern and Dolan had killed Sarah Feldman because she'd overheard them _discussing_ perjury.

And he was sure, not only that those two men couldn't have broken Sarah's neck, but that Stern's shock and grief over her death were real. Good defense attorneys develop some acting skills, but not the kind that would have been needed in this situation.

Unfortunately, he wasn't sure Stern and Dolan wouldn't be tried, convicted, and hanged.

 _Let's hope this - potential witness, or whatever he is - has something good to say about Stern!_

x

x

x

The man ushered into his office was in his mid-twenties, bespectacled and earnest-looking. He introduced himself as Charlie Fitch, an apprentice jeweler with Roseboro's Jewelers.

"Good of you to come in, Mr. Fitch. I know your firm. What do you have to tell us?"

"Well, I read in today's paper that you've charged Nathan Stern with murdering Sarah Feldman, and someone said there's no proof they were engaged. When I looked at his picture, I realized he came in our store a few days ago. The day before the murder, it would've been.

"I didn't know who he was at the time. I mean, I'd heard of Nathan Stern - who hadn't? - but I didn't know what he looked like.

"When he came in the store, he said he couldn't decide whether to buy a diamond ring for his fiancee and surprise her with it, or bring her in and let her pick it out herself. He got real flustered about it, said they'd just gotten engaged, and he didn't know what was the right way to go about buying the ring! We kidded around, talking about girls. But it was clear he was in love with his Sally.

"When I think what happened to her the next day...God, it's terrible!"

"Yes, sir, it is," Baker agreed. "Can you tell me whether Mr. Stern did or didn't buy a ring?"

"Oh - he didn't. When I found out he didn't even know Sally's ring size, I told him he should definitely bring her in. We wound up having a good laugh about it.

"And now...now..." Fitch shook his head. "I can't believe what happened. But I know Mr. Stern never would have killed her!"

Baker dutifully recorded everything, including Fitch's contact information, and sent him on his way.

This was very good. The brass were claiming there was no evidence Stern and Sarah Feldman had been a couple. Even her parents couldn't confirm it. Stern had provided a plausible explanation: they'd only been engaged for a few days, and Sally had meant to tell her parents in person, when she took him to meet them. But the only people he said had known were close friends of his, whose testimony couldn't be trusted.

Of course, it was a trifle odd that he'd forgotten about Fitch...

And that Fitch hadn't recognized him at the time, when his picture had been in the paper every day of the trial. If Fitch had been aware that customer was Nathan Stern, he could have come forward three days ago, when it was first reported that Stern had been taken into custody and the engagement was being questioned...

But Fitch had referred to the dead woman as "Sally." All the news reports had given her name as Sarah. Many, perhaps most, Sarahs were nicknamed Sally. But the jeweler's apprentice would hardly have risked using that nickname if he wasn't sure.

Baker smiled. _Yes, on balance, a credible witness_.

x

x

x

An hour later, he was gazing across his desk at someone he'd thought would never walk into a police station voluntarily. A local crime boss, Seth Janssen.

Janssen said reproachfully, "I was sure you people would come to your senses, Lieutenant, and release Nathan Stern. That's why I didn't call or come by days ago. But since you've actually charged him and Dolan, I have to speak up.

"I phoned Stern's office that morning - was probably the last person to speak with Sarah Feldman, except for, maybe, the killer."

Baker nodded. "Yes, we know. Miss Feldman kept meticulous records of calls, even the time. It was only ten minutes before she died." He'd wanted to touch base with everyone she'd spoken with that morning, but his Captain - sure they had the killers - had ruled out using police time that way.

"I was hoping to retain Stern to represent one of my, er, associates, Joseph Van Vranken -"

"Ah, yes. We know." Joey Van Vranken was a thug. Even Stern could probably have done no better than get the murder charge against him reduced to manslaughter.

And _he_ was free on bail.

"Miss Feldman told me she couldn't make any promises, because Stern had so much work, and he never had represented any of my...associates. She said she'd speak to him about it, when he was finished with the meeting he was in.

"But she was very pleasant, not in a rush to cut me off. I wanted to make a good impression, so I said some flattering things about her boss. And then _she_ spoke of him - what's the word I want? - _glowingly_.

"I thought I'd kid her a little bit, about having a crush on him. She laughed and said I'd caught her, but it was more than a crush. They were in love, and planning to be married! She sounded so young and h-happy -" His voice broke, and Baker realized the tough crime boss was blinking back tears. "She m-made me think of my own daughter, you know? Hoping Margie will find happiness like that, when she meets the right guy.

"And you cops are claiming that girl was about to report Stern for some crime or other, and he was about to come out of his office and kill her? You're nuts!"

x

x

x

Another hour, another potential witness. Or rather, two of them.

Patrick Robbins and Blake Anderson were insurance adjusters, two of several who worked out of the office suite directly across the hall from Stern's.

Baker remembered what they, and the many other workers on that floor of the building, had initially told his officers. Still in shock, they'd related how they'd been terrified on hearing a man's screams. They'd rushed out into the hall - thinking mostly of fire. But a visibly shaken Tommy Dolan had come out of Stern's office, and quickly told them Stern's secretary had been murdered. He'd said the killer had probably gotten away, or at least off their floor; but to be safe, they should go back in their offices and lock their doors. He'd call the police.

They'd willingly let him do it. Tommy Dolan was a take-charge kind of guy.

 _And it's a good thing he is_ , Baker reflected. _Under the circumstances, he undoubtedly did the right thing_.

Robbins said now, "I was so upset when I talked to the cops that I wasn't thinking clearly. Later, I got to thinking I might have heard something else, something that could be important. But I wasn't sure whether I was just imagining it, or was wrong about the timing -"

Baker was about to butt in and demand _"What?"_ But before he could, Robbins was droning on. "And then, when it was reported you were actually charging Mr. Stern and Mr. Dolan, I got talking to Blake about it."

Anderson chimed in, "And I'd been having the same worries, not sure I'd heard what I thought I had, _when_ I thought I had. But now we know we couldn't both be wrong."

Reining in his impatience, Baker asked, "What did you hear?"

Then they both started talking at once.

But Robbins finally emerged as the spokesman, and explained that from within their suite, they'd heard the door of Stern's suite open and close, and had then heard "footsteps hurrying away," about ten seconds before Stern began screaming.

x

x

x

Nathan Stern was bewildered on hearing he and Dolan were suddenly being released, all charges dropped. But when it sank in, the first words out of his mouth were, "Did you find out who really killed Sally?"

Lieutenant Baker, who'd delivered the news in person, shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stern. We'll keep trying, but I won't be surprised if this one is never solved.

"I'm glad, though, that we can release the two of you. The public's been on your side from the start - thanks mostly to Kay-Zack." Here he gave a grudging nod to Dolan. "And enough new facts have come to light that everyone agrees they couldn't get indictments."

 _They_ , not _we_ , Nate noted. Meaning Baker had never identified with the higher-ups who'd wanted those indictments.

He thought of asking about the "new facts." But Dolan - sticking to him like glue - seemed in a hurry to get away from the station, and some instinct told him explanations could wait.

x

x

x

When they stepped out onto the street, a car was waiting to pick them up - at the wheel, a grinning Walt Ellison. Dolan sang out, "I knew you'd come through for us, Walt!"

An hour later, they were finishing a restaurant meal. Ellison had explained the "new facts," while he and Dolan tried mightily to suppress their good cheer in deference to Nate's grief over Sally.

Leaning back in his chair, Nate said carefully, "I don't quite understand this." But he thought he did. "Sally was the ultimate professional in her conversations with callers. We were in love, yes. But she wouldn't have gushed about me on the phone, or talked about her personal life with someone like Seth Janssen.

"The door of the suite across the hall would have been closed at that hour. With it closed, Robbins and Anderson wouldn't have been able to hear my door open and close.

"And I've never set foot in Roseboro's Jewelers!"

"Well, Nate..." Ellison weighed his words. "Think of it this way. You did me a good turn, when you got all public-spirited and insisted on defending Tommy pro bono. You saved me a lot of money. And a penny saved..."

Nate frowned. "...is a penny earned?"

"I like to finish that saying differently." Ellison gave a broad wink. "A penny saved is a penny _that can be spent on something else_."

x

x

x

The End

x

x

x

 _ **Author's Afterword:**_ For fans who don't know: Daniel Knauf originally planned to have Tommy Dolan killed by the enraged mob before the police could take him into custody. Clancy Brown talked him out of "killing off" the character; but I doubt we would have seen Tommy again. With the character written out in midseason, actor Rob Knepper wouldn't have been under contract, and probably wouldn't have been available if he was asked to return. My guess is that viewers would have been told - or left to assume – that Tommy had been hanged.


End file.
